Annoucements

Festival Mainstage Lineup Announced

April 21, 2011

The Frederick Arts Council has announced the entertainment lineup for the Main Stage at this year’s Frederick Festival of the Arts, scheduled June 4-5th along Carroll Creek Linear Park.

The festival hosts two stages of music throughout the two days of the festival including a Main Stage and an acoustic stage. Music genres featured throughout the weekend include rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, country, and jazz. A highlight of this year’s festival is the opportunity to see four military bands.

Since the Festival is free and open to the public, the entertainment provides a great opportunity for anyone to enjoy live music at no charge. The Main Stage is located adjacent to the Beer and Wine Garden and individuals are encouraged to come down to the event and have a great time. Food vendors will also be on site selling everything from crabcakes and barbeque to kettle corn and lemonade.

New in 2011 is a special Kickoff Party on Friday, June 3rd from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Many of the participating artists will be on hand for the festivities and food and beverages will be available for purchase. The Electric Brigade, a band from the United States Naval Academy, will perform on the Main Stage at 6:00 p.m. The Electric Brigade (EB), the Navy’s premier Pop Music Ensemble, maintains a reputation for thrilling audiences everywhere. Under the direction of Chief Musician Frank Dominguez, Electric Brigade presents a versatile and dynamic program bringing the best in Navy music to each audience.
With a well rounded repertoire combining selected features of the most current and popular music and high-energy performance, Electric Brigade excels at reaching young adults in both high school and collegiate settings. The ensemble is also well suited to public performances at state and county fairs, art festivals, and community concert series. Originally founded as “Tidal Wave” in 1972, Electric Brigade has thrilled audiences from Iceland to Indiana, Maine to Minnesota, and as far south as Key West and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since its inception in 1979, this ensemble remains on the cutting edge of today’s popular music scene by choosing a variety of selections each year from current Top 40 charts. Electric Brigade’s ability to play pop, rhythm and blues, dance, Motown, classic rock, modern rock, soul, hip-hop, swing, country, and disco allows them the flexibility to please all audiences and age groups.

Saturday’s performances get under way at 11:30 a.m. with the Frederick Rock School. The Frederick Rock School provides their students a chance to learn an instrument of their choice and put together a rocking set list of classic, current and original songs for their upcoming performance at a real rock and roll venue. The Frederick Rock School provides a safe place for the students to socialize with their peers, do their homework, jam in the lounge, and play ping-pong or air hockey and grab a bite to eat at the Rock Bar. The student will also have the opportunity to take part in the many different workshops and guest celebrity speakers the school will have throughout the year.

Following them, The Jazz Ambassadors Dixieland Band will perform at 1:15 p.m. This U. S Army affiliated group performs jazz in the tradition of its earliest eras. Virtually all Jazz Ambassadors concerts feature this dynamic seven-piece group, sharing music in the styles of the great King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, and Bix Beiderbecke bands. While on tour, the ensemble occasionally performs separate concerts at VA Hospitals and Veteran Centers, and performed live on “Good Morning America” on July 4, 2007. On all occasions, the Jazz Ambassadors Dixieland Band fosters enthusiasm and appreciation for America’s original art form.

Members of the band have performed with Harry Connick Jr., Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Della Reese, Dave Brubeck, the Count Basie Orchestra, Lou Rawls, Tony Bennett, Kenny Rogers, Frankie Vallie, the Four Tops, and Mary Wilson. They have trained and taught at institutions such as the Berklee College of Music, are winners of such awards as the DownBeat Magazine Student Music Award, released solo recordings, and are recognized for their own compositions across the country.

Local favorite Hard Swimmin’ Fish will take the stage at 2:45 p.m. Hard Swimmin’ Fish is a blues quartet that has been making music together for over fifteen years. The band plays a range of styles covering the country blues of Mississippi and The Piedmont, the urban blues of Chicago, and fund infused varieties with roots in New Orleans’ second line. The versatility allows the band to offer either acoustic or electric performances and play any venue. The juxtaposition of old and new is also evident in both the band members and their play list. Together they churn out a vibrant combination of originals, rearranged traditional material, and recognizable standards.

Closing out Saturday’s performances is Max Impact. The United States Air Force Band is proud to have this exciting performing unit in its musical arsenal. Armed with four of the Air Force’s most dynamic vocalists and supported by a hard-hitting five-piece rhythm section, this high-energy band has everything needed to ignite a party and keep the flame burning for hours.

Key to Max Impact’s mission success is its ability to entertain the young as well as the young at heart. Max Impact fuses the elements of contemporary music from today’s hip-hop, pop and urban sounds-and everything in between. Max Impact brings together the musical styles of today’s top artists like Destiny’s Child, Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera as well as original Max Impact songs. To achieve maximum results Max Impact stays on the leading edge of the ever-changing pop music scene while projecting the highest standards of Air Force professionalism. Optimal delivery is the name of Max Impact’s game when it comes to serving its audience. The band will perform from 5:30-7:00 p.m.

On Sunday, Country Current will start off the day at 1:00 p.m. United States Navy Band’s Country Current country-bluegrass group is the Navy’s premier country music ensemble. The seven-member group was formed in 1973 and quickly established itself in all aspects of country and bluegrass music. The group is under the direction of banjoist Senior Chief Musician Keith M. Arneson. Touring the country each year, they have performed with such artists as Boots Randolph, Charlie Daniels, Vince Gill and David Ball. Country Current performed at the “Branson Cares–Help Start the Healing” tribute to the citizens of Oklahoma City and at the Glen Campbell Goodtime Theatre in Branson, Mo., on Memorial Day in 1995.

Country Current performed at Branson’s Silver Dollar City with Rhonda Vincent and Bradley Walker in May of 2008. The group performed at the Grand Ol’ Opry in Nashville, Tenn. in September of 2007. They played for thousands of NASCAR race fans in 2006 at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C., and the DirecTV 500 in Martinsville, Va. In 2004, they performed at the G-8 Summit in Sea Island, Ga., hosted by President George W. Bush. They celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2003 with a concert featuring past members Bill Emerson and Jerry Gilmore. They performed at the 24th Annual Congressional Barbecue in 2002, hosted by President and Mrs. Bush.

The group features an acoustic bluegrass quintet and in March 2000, they were featured at the Mississippi Country-Bluegrass Spectacular in Columbia, Miss. In February 1999, the group performed with country music singer David Ball as part of The Pentagon Pops Musical Salute to America’s “Guardians of Freedom” at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. In July 1998, the group performed for over 100,000 people at the Fort Vancouver 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular in Ft. Vancouver, Wash. In June 1994, they appeared at the Nova Scotia International Tattoo and in September 1992 at the Swedish Army Tattoo in Stockholm. In February 1989, they entertained Chinese officials in Beijing at a dinner hosted by former President and Mrs. George Bush.

Bringing the festival to a close this year is the John Mancini Band. Based in Baltimore, this group was recently named New Groove winner by jambands.com. Two-time veterans of WTMD’s Baltimore Unsigned, they have been fan favorites wherever they play, whether it is Mt. Vernon or Columbia to Philadelphia and New York. The John Mancini Band recently completed their second full-length album “Sun King,” following their 2009 debut, “JMB,” which won awards from Billboard and Relix Magazine and earned positive reviews from local and international publications, earning comparisons to songwriters Randy Newman, John Fogerty, Dr. John, and bands Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bob Marley.

Additional details will be announced about the festival at a later date, including information about the 110 visual artists that will be showcasing their work as well as the lineup for the acoustic stage and other performances planned at the event. The event is free and open to the public.

The Frederick Festival of the Arts is organized by the Frederick Arts Council, whose mission is to be the primary catalyst for the arts and arts opportunities in Frederick County. Support for the Festival is provided by the Maryland State Arts Council. Festival sponsors include Bechtel Group Foundation, Comcast, Potomac Edison, The City of Frederick, Renewal By Andersen, Text Design, La Paz, Frederick Memorial Healthcare System: CorpOHS, Tourism Council of Frederick County, and Hood College. For more information, call at 301-662-4190.